Wall standing and lateral moves

Hannah is big into standing up against a wall lately and usually demands that Isabelle stands there with her. Then she laughs hysterically. This is one example of the ways in which she seems to intuitively know what she needs to do to get stronger, as this is actually an exercise that is sometimes recommended for kids with CP to help them develop balance and coordination before they stand independently, without support. Bonus that she wants to do it herself, and that Isabelle is all to happy to oblige!



The other great thing that Hannah has started to do is move out from behind the walker to something that she's interested in exploring or checking out. This forces her to step laterally, which is really hard for her to do. It also means that she's comfortable and secure enough to use the walker to get where she wants to go, but then leave it behind to move in closer to something if she wants. Our hope is that this will keep reinforcing the huge value and reward she gets for using the walker to be independent.


I'm excited to see where this all goes once her new walker arrives and she gets her orthotics. Hopefully that will all happen in the next few weeks. Then we'll really be ready for the melting snow and warmer, playground weather!